Montblac has announced its e-Strap watchband that will cleverly turn traditional timepieces into smartwatches. The wearable technology adds notifications, fitness tracking and touch screen to a regular watch.

Montblanc Ttimewalker Urban Speed e-Strap

In an effort to compete with smartwatches from Apple and Google, fearful of the first industry shake-up in decades as OEMs tries to take a bite out of the market for conventional watches, it is not surprising that traditional watch makers are also turning to experiment with the smartwatch concept in a bid to ensure that they retain timekeeping in the mechanical territory and to avoid becoming irrelevant.

Brought out as part of the Montblanc Timewalker Urban Speed collection, the e-Strap band attaches a 4cm widget to the inside of the watchband, complete with an OLED touch screen and notification system. Made from a material called DLC (diamond like carbon) and coated in steel, it connects to a smartphone app. When connected the device will be capable of handling all your standard notifications, though it does lacks more advanced health-monitoring sensors and only comes with sensors to track movement and sleep.

Montblanc Ttimewalker Urban Speed e-Strap

The e-Strap is compatible with both iOS and Android smartphones. Alerts for phone calls, texts, emails, calendar events, social network interactions and reminders are delivered with a vibrations and its battery is said to offer five days of use with once charge, a huge leap than that of the 1 day life spam of most regular smartwatches.

Montblanc Ttimewalker Urban Speed e-Strap app

The band itself is Florentine leather and it is being sold at a luxury price of £250 as an add-on for Montblanc’s 2015 Timewalker Urban Speed watches with prices ranging from around £2,300 to £3,600. It will also be available as a standalone purchase, of course, but stands at a higher price point when compared to Android Wear smartwatches from LG and Motorola. However, being a more subtle alternative to bulky smartwatches, the strap is likely to see some form of success with those who still prefer mechanical watches.

Kai-Li is a tech enthusiast with an in-depth knowledge of mobile technology, music technology and the entertainment industry. She hails from Taiwan and helps Tech Assimilate to erm... assimilate, all the latest tech news and trends from East Asia. Kai-Li Yang on Google+